RAMALLAH: Palestinian worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque were attacked by Israeli police again on Thursday, a day after being forcibly expelled from the compound to allow dozens of Israeli settlers to enter for the Passover feast.
The tightened restrictions had led to a steep drop in the number of worshippers at the mosque, officials said, with just 20,000 attending the taraweeh prayer on Wednesday, down from 80,000 the day before.
Hundreds of worshippers performed the fajr prayer on the thresholds of Al-Aqsa, but as soon as it ended, Israeli forces removed them from the area.
Police allowed fewer than 40 Palestinians to enter the mosque on Thursday morning.
The Israeli extremist Temple organizations have called on their supporters to storm Al-Aqsa during the Jewish Passover that ends next week.
Omar Al-Kiswani, director of Al-Aqsa Mosque, told Arab News that several Muslims were unable to offer the fajr prayer on Thursday because of Israeli restrictions, a heavy military deployment at the gates and a lockdown in the West Bank that will remain in place until Saturday.
A total of 199 settlers had stormed Al-Aqsa under the protection of the Israeli police on Thursday, he said.
Experts said the cost of the damage caused by Israeli police inside the mosque on Wednesday could run into the tens of thousands of dollars. Precious glass windows, doors, Qur’an libraries and a clinic were all damaged.
Al-Kiswani said this had become a policy of the occupation forces during their crackdown at the holy site.
The third Friday of Ramadan is set to come amid a strict security situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It is not known if the Israeli authorities will allow worshipers to reach Al-Aqsa.
Also, the third-Friday sermon will be a challenge for the preacher who could be accused of incitement against the Israeli authorities.
Al-Kiswani said Al-Aqsa preacher Mohammed Sarandah was summoned by Israeli security authorities before the start of Ramadan and accused of inciting worshippers. He was removed from Al-Aqsa for two months.
“We are more concerned about calm in Al-Aqsa Mosque than the Israelis because calm attracts more worshipers during Ramadan,” Al-Kiswani said, adding that an intervention by Arab and Islamic countries could stop Israeli incursions into the mosque.
On Thursday, Jordan and Palestine submitted a joint request to the UN Security Council to hold a closed-door emergency session on Friday to discuss Israeli violations at Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Jerusalemites told Arab News that the repressive measures there were intended to embarrass Jordan and prove that the Jordanian leadership was unable to protect the sacred site.
Jordan has been the official custodian of Muslim and Christian holy places in Jerusalem since 1924. For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world’s third-holiest site.
Fatah’s prominent leader in East Jerusalem, Ahmed Ghuneim, said the Israeli tampering with the status quo at Al-Aqsa constituted a threat to Jordan and would destabilize its internal security and stability.
Political analyst Ghassan Al-Khatib told Arab News that Israel’s right-wing government was deceiving Jordan by giving it promises to preserve the status quo at Al-Aqsa, while Israelis were taking advantage of its lack of power.
Jerusalemites said the Israeli occupation had used different methods to reduce the number of Palestinian worshipers at Al-Aqsa over the past two decades to allow settlers to storm it and carry out their religious rituals without significant resistance.
Meanwhile, a 15-year-old Palestinian boy, Khader Ghurab, was injured after being shot by a settler in the old city of Jerusalem late on Wednesday.
Palestinian worshippers at Al-Aqsa face second day of harassment by Israeli police
https://arab.news/vacps
Palestinian worshippers at Al-Aqsa face second day of harassment by Israeli police
- Attacks come after Muslims forcibly expelled from holy site on Wednesday
- Several worshippers unable to perform daily prayers, mosque director says
Israel says struck military sites in east, south Lebanon
Four missiles were fired in the Nabatiyeh area of southern Lebanon
JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said it struck military sites in east and south Lebanon on Thursday, in its latest attack despite a November ceasefire that ended a war against militant group Hezbollah.
“A short while ago, the IDF (military) struck a military site containing an underground terrorist infrastructure site in the Bekaa area in Lebanon, as well as a military site containing rocket launchers in southern Lebanon in which Hezbollah activity has been identified,” the military said in a statement.
Lebanese state media on Thursday reported Israeli strikes on the country’s south and east.
The state-run National News Agency said “enemy aircraft” struck “the eastern slopes of the mountain range within the town of Janta in the Bekaa,” as well as “the outskirts of the town of Taraya, west of Baalbek,” also in the east.
Four missiles were fired in the Nabatiyeh area of southern Lebanon, NNA said.
No casualties were immediately reported.
The November 27 truce largely halted more than a year of fighting between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel, including two months of open war during which Israel sent in ground troops.
Hezbollah had said it was acting in support of Hamas militants fighting Israel in Gaza.
Israel has continued to carry out strikes on Lebanese territory since the truce agreement took effect.
Under the agreement, Israel had been expected to withdraw from Lebanon by February 18 after missing a January deadline, but it has kept troops at five locations it deems “strategic.”
The ceasefire also required Hezbollah to pull back north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border, and to dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.
Fight against disinformation to continue, says Turkish official
ANKARA: Following the decision to detain Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality officials and other suspects within the scope of a series of investigations conducted by the Istanbul Public Prosecutor's Office, we note that some parties, especially leaders of the main opposition party, are making efforts to undermine the integrity of the investigations with political and ideological motives.
Among the political and ideological assessments made without familiarity with the content and details of the investigations that have begun, we are also witnessing irrational slanders against our president.
We will continue to stand firmly against such endeavors aimed at undermining the independence of our judiciary, which exercises its authority on behalf of the Turkish nation, as well as putting our president under suspicion, and will continue to protect the rights of our president against these ideological slander campaigns.
We emphasize our belief that all decisions of an impartial judiciary should be respected by all groups, and we would like to state that we will continue our fight against disinformation as the Communication Directorate in this process.
We ask our valued citizens to support this fight by dealing cautiously with unconfirmed and suspicious content and, as always, please rely on the statements of official institutions and authorities.
- Prof. Dr. Fahrettin Altun is Head of the Communications Directorate of the Republic of Turkiye.
Houthi militant media reports fresh US strikes on Yemen
- Four strikes hit Hodeida governorate on the Red Sea
- The Houthis have reported several rounds of US attacks since Saturday
SANAA: Fresh attacks hit two areas of militant-held Yemen, the Iran-backed Houthis’ Al-Masirah TV station reported on Thursday, blaming “US aggression.”
Four strikes hit Hodeida governorate on the Red Sea, and a further attack hit Saada in the north, the birthplace of the Houthi movement, Al-Masirah said.
The attacks came around the same time that Israel’s military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen for the second time in a day.
The Houthis have reported several rounds of US attacks since Saturday, when a heavy bombardment targeting senior figures killed 53 people, according to the militant group.
In return, the Houthis have repeatedly attacked a US aircraft carrier battle group and twice announced missile launches at Israeli targets.
The US attacks are aimed at stamping out months of strikes by the Houthis on Red Sea shipping during the Gaza war that have crippled the vital trade route.
Israel says it intercepts two missiles launched from Yemen
- There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the launch, but it comes after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis had threatened to escalate attacks in support of Palestinians
JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said it intercepted two missiles launched from Yemen on Thursday after US President Donald Trump threatened to punish Iran over its perceived support for Yemeni Houthi militants.
Warning sirens sounded in Jerusalem and the nearby Israeli-occupied West Bank after the second missile was fired later in the day, the military said, adding that it was intercepted before it entered Israeli territory.
The military said it also downed a missile launched from Yemen earlier in the day after sirens blared in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Israel’s national ambulance service Magen David Adom said it received no reports of casualties following both launches.
The Houthis, undeterred by waves of US strikes since Saturday, fired a ballistic missile toward Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, the group’s military spokesperson said in a televised statement earlier on Thursday.
The group has recently vowed to escalate attacks, including those targeting Israel, in response to the US campaign.
US strikes that began on Saturday over Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping amount to the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since President Donald Trump took office in January. The US attacks have killed at least 50 people.
Yemen’s Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV reported at least four US strikes on the Al Mina district of the Red Sea city of Hodeidah on Thursday, an area which houses a major port and the headquarters of Houthi naval forces.
Al Masirah TV reported another strike on Al-Safra district of Saada which, according to Yemeni sources, houses weapons storage and training sites, and is considered one of the group’s most important and heavily fortified military strongholds.
Trump threatened on Monday to hold Iran accountable for any future Houthi attacks, warning of severe consequences. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the Houthis were independent and took their own strategic and operational decisions.
On Tuesday, the Houthis said they had fired a ballistic missile toward Israel and would expand their range of targets in that country in coming days in retaliation for renewed Israeli airstrikes in Gaza after weeks of relative calm.
The Houthis have carried out over 100 attacks on shipping since Israel’s war with Hamas began in late 2023, saying they were acting in solidarity with Gaza’s Palestinians.
The attacks have disrupted global commerce and prompted the US military to launch a costly campaign to intercept missiles.
The Houthis are part of what has been dubbed the “Axis of Resistance” — an anti-Israel and anti-Western alliance of regional militias including Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and armed groups in Iraq, all backed by Iran.
EU leaders deplore breakdown of the ceasefire in Gaza
- The European Council deplores the breakdown of the ceasefire in Gaza
BRUSSELS: EU leaders said on Thursday that they deplore the breakdown of the ceasefire in Gaza and Hamas’ refusal to hand over remaining hostages.
“The European Council deplores the breakdown of the ceasefire in Gaza, which has caused a large number of civilian casualties in recent air strikes. It deplores the refusal of Hamas to hand over the remaining hostages,” it said in a statement.
